Governor Zulum: Only Lagos and Rivers Will Benefit from Tinubu’s Tax Reform Bills

The governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum, has once again expressed his opposition to the controversial tax reform bills introduced by the Tinubu-led administration.

He argued that only states like Lagos and Rivers would benefit from the proposed bills. Governor Zulum made this statement during an appearance on Channels Television on December 1.

“On this tax issue, there are a lot of misconceptions. We felt that the VAT provision in the tax law. Based on the calculations that we did, only Lagos and Rivers States will benefit from this scheme. We did our own research and conclude that we would lose.

Why are we in a rush? We advised the Federal Government to take a pause, and expunge some of the clauses that are inimical to not only Northern Nigeria.

What we are saying is that give more time, let us do a deeper consultation to understand the nitty-gritty of this tax regime before passing it into law.” he said.

Governor Zulum explained that if the tax reform bill is passed by the National Assembly, it would disadvantage many states, with Lagos being the primary beneficiary of the policy.

He also reflected on his stance prior to the 2023 general elections, where he was one of the few governors advocating for power rotation to the south.

He emphasized that Northern Nigeria could not be opposed to Tinubu, as over 60% of Tinubu’s votes in the 2023 elections came from the region. Governor Zulum added that some individuals were spreading a negative narrative suggesting that the north is against Tinubu’s government.

“I am a strong member of APC. If you can count two governors before 2019 and 2023 that were in support of Tinubu, you can mention Governor Zulum. I was the first governor to come out publicly and say that power must go to the South. Unfortunately, the President was told by many that the North are against him. 60.2 per cent of his votes came from the North,” he added.